Sanctions encourage the Russian Federation to stay at the negotiating table for the settlement of the situation in Donbas, so they can not be canceled, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said.

"Sanctions against Russia must remain," Poroshenko said, speaking at the Chatham House in London on Wednesday.

The Ukrainian president said that the sanctions encourage the Russian Federation to stay at the negotiating table, so they should be left until the Minsk agreements on the settlement of the situation in eastern Ukraine are implemented.